Loyalty
by TaizerD
Summary: At the end of the giant war, Percy, who only wished for a happy ending, is running from the goddess that wants to kill him for reasons he doesn't quite understand. Not to mention, she's his future wife.


**_A/N This is my first story, so let's see how it turns out. There will be no chaos, that is far too clichéd. I intend to make this story as original as possible, so please review!_**

_3000 years ago_

Artemis stumbled up the mountainside, cursing as she did so. Normally, she was a very agile immortal, but dragging a half-conscious Apollo does not help at all. Taking another swig of Nectar, she hurried on towards her mother; Leto, who was several yards ahead of her. Apollo had just defeated Python, the giant snake that had been following them, and he seemed all too proud of himself for it. Artemis could already tell that she was going to have to kick some sense into her brother- when he was awake, of course.

As Artemis clambered over another large rock and lugged Apollo over too, she walked straight into her mother and sent the three sprawling. After landing with a shock, Apollo seemed to come back into the world, as mother and children got up and dusted themselves off. Artemis, having regained her bearings, turned around with a curious expression to see why Leto had stopped, but seeing the sight before her, her breathe hitched. A small city, complete with temples and houses, lay proudly on the mountain peak. At the very top, a large throne room grandly overlooked the city, and the rest of the world for that matter; from which Artemis could feel the raw power emitted to where she stood, and felt awed at its ferocity.

After gazing at the beautiful landscape that was before her for what felt like an eternity, Artemis was brought back to reality by her mother's soft hand shaking her gently. "Artemis?" Leto's voice rang with concern. "Are you alright?" Artemis turned to face the warm eyes of her mother, and immediately shook out of her stupor "Yes mother, just a bit nervous, that is all." Leto could see clearly why Artemis would be nervous; any sane person would be after all. "Come on, let's get this over with." Leto's voice rang in Artemis' ears as they slowly paced towards Mt. Olympus.

Leto, however, couldn't help but feel nervous herself. She doubted that this meeting would run smoothly, she doubted that they ever did. The fact that Zeus had sired not one, but two more illegitimate children would not go down well with the Queen of the Gods. Leto knew that her son and daughter were going to become Olympians; they would make the set ten. However, she did not believe that she herself would be able to survive Hera's wrath, no matter what Zeus said or did. Being a titan, Leto couldn't be killed, but she could be banished, never being allowed to see her children. This scared her more than Tartarus.

Finally arriving at the city, the three began their trek towards the throne room. Many godlings, nymphs and dryads looked at the trio questionably as they stalked without fault towards the most powerful beings on the planet. The looks were not surprising, and Artemis almost laughed out loud as she realised what a state they must have looked. Clothes torn, twigs and dirt in their hair and traces of Python spit lurking on them. To be honest, Artemis wasn't surprised when a few minor gods in front of them recoiled as Leto pushed her way through the crowd. Both the twins knew why they were here, and what was going to happen, but neither knew how it was going to happen.

Finally reaching the steps to the throne room, the three climbed their way in eerie silence to the base of the large bronze doors. Leto turned towards her children, worry evident in her features, and asked "Are you two ready?" "As ready as we'll ever be" Apollo replied, an equal amount of worry showing in his eyes. None of them knew what the transformation process was going to be like, or how the Olympians were going to take the news of another two, especially since Ares was only recently sired and Hera was still sour about that. With a small push from Leto, the large doors slid open without so much as a creak and the trio strode into the meeting hall of the gods.

Three pairs of eyes widened in perfect harmony as the twins and their mother gazed at the site before them. The room was huge; large marble columns lined the edges of the room and stretched from floor to ceiling. The floor was a set of tiled white marble, with steps leading up towards the thrones. The centre of the room was occupied by a large hearth, with big orange flames that seemed to lean towards one goddess in particular. The thrones themselves sat in a crescent around the hearth, each representing the god or goddess that sat upon them. The thrones were large; they were enough to fill the room and allow the fifteen foot being sitting on them to sit comfortably.

The gods themselves sat proudly on their thrones, each with different expressions. On Artemis' right, Hephaestus seemed to have not even recognised their presence as he fiddled with a bronze gadget. Ares gave a sneer, but his glowing eyes seemed to indicate that he hoped a war would come from this meeting. Poseidon smiled warmly at the three whilst Zeus, their _father,_ kept an impassive face. On her left, a beautiful woman admired herself in a small mirror, completely disregarding everything around her. This was Aphrodite, and Artemis hated her already. The next two women, Demeter and Hestia, looked at her with the same expression as Poseidon did; Artemis could already see who she would look up to on the council. And Hera, well Hera was smouldering; she almost had smoke coming out of her ears.

Leto gave her twins a gentle shove, and the three walked toward the platinum throne of Zeus. When they reached him, the three immortals dropped into a deep bow. "Lord Zeus" Leto muttered. "Rise" came the booming response from the King of the God's mouth. Standing to her full height, Artemis could see Hera glaring holes into her head, but Artemis merely ignored her. Zeus stood up proudly, and announced that two more Olympians would be created, and how his children had done great things and were rightfully children of the king of the gods. Artemis could almost drown in the amount of arrogance her 'father' displayed; she could tell that Zeus' older siblings felt the same way.

At the end of Zeus' rant, Hera looked ready to blow a gasket, and Artemis could tell something was going to go wrong as soon as the queen of the gods stood up. "STOP!" Hera roared. "ZEUS, YOU CANNOT LEAVE ME A PERMANENT REMINDER OF YOUR UNFAITHFULNESS, YET AGAIN, AND EXPECT TO GET AWAY WITH IT. I CANNOT HARM YOU OR THE CHILDREN PHYSICALLY, BUT I CAN EMOTIONALLY, BY CURSING THEIR MOTHER. LETO, FROM THIS DAY FORTH YOU SHALL BE BANISHED, JUST AS CALYPSO IS, TO AN UNREACHABLE ISLAND, NEVER TO HAVE CONTACT WITH YOUR CHILDREN AGAIN!" At this, A golden vortex began to swirl around Leto, and whilst Artemis tried to break through, Leto just hung her head, silent tears spilling as if she knew this was her fate.

Artemis watched as her mother was engulfed in the bright light; but once it receded she saw no evidence of her mother ever being there. At seeing this, Artemis broke down into tears, and sobbed, whilst the entire Olympian council broke into shouting. Poseidon and Hestia flashed over to consult the distraught twins while Zeus began a heated debate with his angry wife, who seemed pleased with the results of her curse. After what seemed like an eternity, Zeus had had enough. "QUIET!" He shouted over the top of the yelling, and immediately everyone shut up. Poseidon and Hestia flashed over to their thrones, both glaring daggers at the king and queen of the gods for their actions. Zeus stood up. "This arguing will only hinder our progress; let us begin the transformation oath for my two children and the two newest Olympians now. Artemis, my daughter, step forwards please." Artemis, although still angry at Zeus' lack of reaction to the banishment of her mother, stepped forward, tear trails evident on the girls' face.

"To become an Olympian, daughter, you must repeat what I say: I, Artemis."

"I, Artemis."

"Do solemnly swear by the River Styx."

"Do solemnly swear by the River Styx."

"To fulfil my duties as an Olympian to the best of my abilities."

"To fulfil my duties as an Olympian to the best of my abilities."

"And to remain loyal to Olympus no matter what, doing whatever is necessary to secure the wellbeing of Olympus."

"And to remain loyal to Olympus no matter what, doing whatever is necessary to secure the wellbeing of Olympus."

Thunder rumbled and the earth shook as the oath was sealed. Artemis, wondering what would happen next, looked around to spot a silver throne rising up on her left at the end of the female side. She grew to her godly height, not even realising what she was doing, and sat down on the throne. Almost immediately, Artemis could feel power coursing through her veins as she felt her realms at her fingertips; unfortunately for the new goddess, she did not know what these realms were. Artemis turned her attention back to the middle of the room as she realised, in her own little world, that Apollo had taken his oath and received a golden throne too. It was clear now the Olympians were waiting for something; every one of them was perched in the edge of his or her throne looking in curiosity at the new gods.

A glow suddenly erupted from above the twins' heads, and both snapped them upwards to see what was happening. Artemis could see a mix of symbols, mostly silver, whilst her brothers' were different and were all portrayed in gold. "May I present: Artemis, goddess of archery, the hunt, childbirth and the moon, and Apollo, god of archery, medicine, music, poetry and the sun!" Poseidon announced as proudly as if they were his own children. Almost instantaneously, the room burst in applause; except for the king and queen, the latter sitting on her throne harrumphing slightly. Hera was still not happy about this. A few minutes later, Artemis heard a 'meeting dismissed' from Zeus, although she could barely hear it over the congratulations that the other Olympians were giving them. One by one, the Olympians flashed out, until it was just Artemis and Poseidon left. Immediately, he walked over and hugged her in a tight embrace. Poseidon grabbed Artemis by the shoulders and looked her in the eye; his own green eyes filled with concern. "I believe you wanted to ask me something, Artemis?" Artemis looked shocked and he laughed. "Oh please, I could tell by your face that there was something that you wanted to ask me." Shaking her head, Artemis nodded, and proceeded to tell Poseidon about Zeus and her mother. "Please help me uncle, I do not want to end up like my mother, and fall for a man that will betray me and leave me broken, is there anything you can do?" Poseidon looked deep in thought, until his face brightened. "How about I turn you into a maiden goddess, then you won't have to be concerned about romance any more. At the same time, you would become the goddess of maidens and chastity too." At the end of this, Artemis looked overjoyed and hugged her uncle fiercely whilst muttering thank you's repeatedly. Poseidon merely smiled, and whispered a few words, before a warm glow enveloped the two. When the glow had faded, Poseidon explained that he had just spoken a verse known only to the eldest gods and that Artemis was now a maiden goddess.

Artemis looked very happy about being a maiden goddess, and was about to disappear, when Poseidon called her once more. "Artemis, beware that your oath of loyalty over rules your maidenhood, and should the need arise, you may find that you have to marry for the good of Olympus." He stated gravely, before flashing out to his undersea home, leaving Artemis thinking about what matter could require her getting married to save her new home.


End file.
